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Urban Scenic Spots
Xiaoting Ancient
Battlefield
It lies beside the National Highway No.318.And it faces Jingmen
mountain of Yidu City across the Yangtze river.It's the place that
military strategists in ancient China strived to occupy."The
Battle of Xiaoting", "The Battle of Jiangguan" and "the Battle of
Ropebridge" all happened here.Today more than one hundred scenic
spots have been built,such as Chusailou Building,Entertainment
Barracks,War Drum Platform, Ancient Plank Roadway,Generals'
Statues of the Three Kingdoms,Yachts,spring and laser game-machine.It's
a scenic area that merges travelling,shopping,relaxation,dining
and living into an integral whole.
 Longquan
(Dragon Spring) Cave
It lies in the northern peak of the Xiling Mountain,behind the
mouth of the Xiling Gorge and faces to the Xialao Brook.It is
close to the Three Visitor's Cave.The cave is 3.3 metres wide,
more than 30 metres high and 513 metres long.One can enter the
mouth of the cave through the Dragon Tongue Bridge.There are many
strange stones in the cave resembling dragon's liver,dragon's
lung,dragon's thorn,stony drum,jade post,stalagmites and so on.The
spring gushs out green and pure water.The stalactites look like
palace lanterns hanging on the ceiling.This is one of the scenery
you can hardly tear yourself apart.
 Baima
(White Horse) Cave
Baima Cave is less than one kilometre away from the
Three-Visitor's Cave.It's 1900 metres long.The entrance is on the
cliff and it is so strange that there is a stream coming from the
inside. Travellers have to take a boat to get in.At the
beginning,the cave is quite narrow,but the deeper you get in,the
wider it becomes. About 200 metres far,you will see the bank.The
cave is divided into five layers which crisscross one another.On
the first layer's cliff, a group of white stalacities hanging like
a white horse. It is said that, this is the horse who helped Tang
Seng (a famous monk in the Tang Dynasty) to go on a pilgrimage for
Buddist scriptures.This resulted in the name of the White Horse
Cave.The exit is on the other side of the mountain,just facing the
Three-Visitor's Cave.
 Changbanpo
Changbanpo is an ancient battlefield relic of the Three
Kingdoms.In the autumn of 208 A.D. during the East Han Dynasty,Cao
Cao led his large land force advancing to the south. He himself
pursued and attacked Liu Bei with 5,000 cavalrymen.Liu Bei
couldn't resist the army.He gave up Xingye County and was defeated
at Xiangyang.When he escaped to Jingshan Mountain, he was
surrounded by Cao Cao. He gave up his wives and fled with his
people.At the critical moment Zhao Zilong (Liu's general) found
Liu Chan (Liu's son) and fought against Cao Cao's troops single-handed.He
killed 50 enemy generals, and succeeded in saving Liu Chan.Cao Cao
also sang high praise for Zhao. From then on, Changbanpo became a
well-known place.In 1582, a monument was built with four Chinese
Characters written on it, meaning "A Stately Appearance at
Changbanpo", but it was robbed of by the Japanese invaders.Now the
monument in Changbanpo Park was a replica made in 1945.
 Qingjiang
Scenery
The Qingjiang River was called Yi (Smooth and safe) Water in
ancient time.It originates from the Xiaojia Pond at the foot of
Qiyue Mountains,Lichuan City,Hubei Province and joins the Yangtze
River in Zhicheng City.It is 423 km long,with a drainage area of
17000 km2.Its average gradient is 51.8%.Not only is it rich in
water resources,but also have attractive scenery.Especially after
the Geheyan Water Control Project was completed,the Qingjiang
River in Changyang became a natural lake with a lot of tiny
islands.Among these the Qingjiang Three Gorges are the most
famous, attracting tourists at home and abroad.
The first gorge is called Pingluo Gorge,which is situated between
the Geheyan Water Control Project and the Wuluozhongli
Mountain,with the total length of 10 km.Because the Qingjiang
River and the Pingluo Stream joins here,it was given the name the
Pingluo Gorge,which is the longest one of the Qingjiang Three
Gorges.In the river,there is a long island surrounded with
water,which forms a natural wild zoo.
The second gorge is called Bashan Gorge,whose ancient name was Han
Pass.It winds from the east of the gorge mouth in Duzhengwan,to
the west of Xiwan in Machi,with the total length of 5km. The
mountains along are high and steep.In the gorge there are
Chessboard Cave and Bashan Cave, in which there are a lot of
wonderful stones like lion,elephant,dragon and snake.
The third gorge is Banxia Gorge,which comes from Zhaolai Stream
and runs into the Dragon Pool.The total length of the Gorge is 5
km.There are two unique hills in the gorge,one is elegant,the
other is magnificent,like a close couple,thus it gained the name
of Banxia Gorge.Besides this, there are other very interesting
scenic spots like "Three Scenes of Banxia Gorge"－the first scenes
is: Thin Knife Cliff;the second is Lion Cave;the third is the Hot
Spring in the Salty Pool.
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